About

Nicolas is a Canadian artist and animation director working and living in London. He makes short films, GIFs, illustrations, prints, books and interactive art.

Nicolas is a graduate of UQAM's School of Design and the Royal College of Art. His animated short films have been screened in festivals around the world, and his latest short Wednesday with Goddard won the award for Best Animated Short at SXSW 2016.

I am pleased to announce that I am part of the 2017 Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase. My short Wednesday with Goddard will screen at the Cannes Lions Festival for the occasion. Head over here to have a look at the list of this year's winners.

May 24, 2017

A recording of the short talk I gave at It's Nice That's Nicer Tuesdays about my latest short film Wednesday with Goddard is now available on YouTube.

May 22, 2017

The results of my UQAM workshop are now online! I gave the graphic design students one week to screen print a film poster, in which a sequence of images (or animation) would be embedded. The week also included a series of tutorials on the basics of how to animate in Photoshop. I also provided a series of screenings with commentary on commercial and independent animation.

May 6, 2017

This week, I was invited by Judith Poirier to host a workshop titled "The Animated Poster" at the Center of Design of Université du Québec à Montréal. You can follow the development of each day of the one week, intensive workshop, here.

April 5, 2017

I will be giving a short talk at this month's Nicer Tuesdays, where I will uncover the mysterious techniques we used to make Wednesday with Goddard. I will be in the good company of creative duo Emily and Alice Stein, as well as illustrator Daniel Frost.

March 20, 2017

Wednesday with Goddard is now online! You can read an interview with Jeff Hamada here on how the film came about, my collaboration with Manshen Lo, and living in London. I had a second interview with It's Nice That, that you can find here.

March 14, 2017

Wednesday with Goddard won the award for Best Animated Short at SXSW! The news came as we just learned that the film would be part of the official selection at Annecy (France) and Pictoplasma (Berlin) later this year.

Wednesday with Goddard, my new 4m30s narrative short film, is now complete. The film features a new visual approach juxtaposing detailed pencil drawings by Manshen Lo with graphic characters, bold compositions and an economical style of animation by myself. A fantastic small team of animators was put together at Nexus Productions to produce the film in a tight 3 months schedule. The ubiquitous David Kamp took on foley and music duties to create the film's rich soundscape. Keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming trailer, out soon. Meanwhile, you can still request a screener for festivals and events. Simply get in touch.

March 15, 2016

Spring cleaning! I have updated the website, streamlining the one page experience. The shop will remain closed for now. You can still obtain the Colorimetry book and posters via La Chose Imprimée's website. You can contact me if you would like a copy of Elsewhere in French. Also, you can still watch my student films and other older animations on my Vimeo account.

Today I ran a Photoshop animation workshop in Paris, at Atelier de Sèvres. Here's a dedicated Tumblr featuring the wonderful work of Catherine Totems' students, who had to make a GIF in one afternoon. The theme was "Stunt Cat".

October 28, 2015

After winning the Animated Grand Prix in Encounters and the Best Graduate Animation in Ottawa, Loop Ring Chop Drink is still being screened in a few festivals. If you're interested in watching it on a big screen near you, check out the upcoming screenings list in the film's description on Vimeo.

June 24, 2015

You can now watch me struggle at public speaking by downloading my Pictoplasma talk here. While you're at it, do not miss the fantastic presentations by Nadine Redlich, Lucas Zanotto and Akinori Oishi.

April 26, 2015

I will be giving a lecture at Pictoplasma (Berlin) this week, on Friday the 1st of May at 2pm. It is taking place at the Babylon. A short Q&A will follow. Click here for more details.

Colorimetry

Artist Book

Habito

TV Commercial

I directed this TV commercial that was produced at Nexus Studios, in collaboration with agency Who Wot Why. It features a series of elegant sorting algorithms that turn graphical chaos into satisfying order; a metaphorical visualization of the brand’s powerful mortgage matching algorithm.

Wednesday with Goddard

Animated short film

'A personal quest for spiritual enlightenment leads to romance and despair.' Animated Short Winner of SXSW 2017, commissioned by Channel 4's Random Acts, and part the second Late Night Work Club project. The film was made in collaboration with Manshen Lo, who was in charge of the pencil drawings acting as backgrounds and sets. Do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to screen the film in your event or festival.

Souk@Sat

Printed & animated poster

A poster design for the 2015 Souk@Sat in Montreal, a “bazaar organized in a loft-style space, where one can find a multitude of contemporary creations by Montrealers”. The client was looking for a surreal image of a floating structure that would also invoke a social hub.

People, Misunderstandings & Furniture

Personal Work

Tourist's Illuminate

Music Video

In 1992, a man receives love letters in Korean. Since Google Translate doesn't exist yet, he's left confused. What could this mean? The aesthetic was influenced by retro video games X (Gameboy) and The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner (NES). Have a look at the accompanying Tumblr here.